1. Field of the Invention
Applicant's invention relates to a combination visor and eyeshield. More particularly, Applicant's invention relates to a visor and eyeshield assembly having at least three adjustment points.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Using a visor to protect one's eyes from direct sunlight while simultaneously wearing a pair of sunglasses to protect one's eyes from indirect, reflected sunlight is not a new idea. In fact, many past inventions disclose a combination visor and eyeshield/sunglasses. The most basic of such combinations involve a pair of eyeshields attached to a visor. The eyeshield can be flipped up parallel to the visor into a rest position when not in use. When the user wants to protect his eyes, he simply flips the eyeshield downward so that the eyeshield is perpendicular to the visor. Previous patents using this combination visor and eyeshield mechanism and method include U.S. Pat. No. 1,696,198 to Gross; U.S. Pat. No. 1,833,741 to Diehl; U.S. Pat. No. 2,481,960 to Wall, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,280 to Feldman; U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,812 to Gatchalian; U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,125 to Phillips; U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,827 to Ryder; and Australian Patent 158,859 to United-Carr Fastener Corporation.
The above disclosed patents do not fit well over the faces of people having especially pronounced facial contours or people who wear prescription eyeglasses. For those who wear eyeglasses, the eyeshield can never be completely flipped to the "down" position because the eyeglasses are in the way. It is well-known that different individuals have different facial contours. Some people have unusually beaky faces while others have unusually flat faces. Again, because a visor and eyeshield combination that can only be adjusted up or down cannot be moved closer to or farther away from one's face, the above inventions usually can only fit a few people comfortably.
In order to solve the above problems, others have made improvements to the combination visor and eyeshield patents disclosed above. In particular, patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,091 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 2,654,089 to Tannenbaum; U.S. Pat. No. 2,549,445 to Friess; U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,641 to Vaca; U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,274 to Day; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,124 to Day all disclose visor and eyeshield combinations that can be moved up or down and backwards and forwards.
Because the above inventions allow a user to both adjust the eyeshield towards or away from the wearer's face and flip the eyeshield up parallel against the visor or down perpendicular to the visor, they readily accommodate individuals wearing eyeglasses and individuals having different facial contours. However, the above inventions still use rather large and bulky eyeshields to protect the wearer's eyes.
Most hats/caps manufactured today are of the one-size-fits-all variety. Thus, the eyeshields disclosed in any one of the above patents must be large enough to cover the eyes of people requiring the largest of hat sizes (and so having larger, longer faces) and people requiring the smallest of hat sizes (and so having shorter, more compact faces). In addition, different people have different hat wearing habits-some people like to wear hats low over their forehead while others like to wear hats high over their forehead. Again, in order to accommodate everyone, the eyeshields must be large enough to protect the eyes of the wearer no matter how the wearer positions his hat.
However, today, people wear hats and sunglasses not only for protection from the sun's harmful rays. Many people wear hats and/or sunglasses as a fashion statement. In this fashion conscious environment, few people are willing to use large and bulky--and unfashionable--eyeshields to protect their eyes from sunlight.
Therefore, a new combination visor and eyeshield must be able to protect the eye from direct and indirect sunlight, accommodate eyeglass wearers, fit well for people having different facial contours, be able to accommodate those who wear different hat sizes, be able to accommodate those with different hat wearing habits, and be fashion sensitive.
Others have tried to solve one or some of the above problems with different versions of visor and eyeshield combinations. U.S. Pat. No. 2,538,607 to Vaca disclosed a visor and eyeshield combination that uses a push-button control to activate the eyeshield into its in-use position. This invention only protects the wearer from direct and indirect sunlight. It does not solve any one of the additional problems listed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,316 to Moody discloses a visor and eyeshield combination that can be adjusted parallel to the visor to fit the different contours of the wearer's face and to fit the eyeglasses possibly worn by the wearer. In addition to the backwards/forwards motion, the eyeshields can be removed from the visor. Therefore, different shaped eyeshields can be clipped onto the visor. This invention is impractical because the removable eyeshields can accidentally fall off the visor. Further, although this invention can be flexible to the fashion requirements of the day and can partially solve the problem with people having different hat sizes and requiring different sized eyeshields, it does not solve the problem with people sometimes wearing their caps high and sometimes wearing their caps low above their forehead. An additional disadvantage of this invention is that the removable eyeglasses cannot be flipped up or down. Therefore, when not in use, the eyeshield must be removed. This increases the chance of the eyeshield being misplaced and lost forever.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,164 to Lisle discloses a visor and eyeshield combination having a cloth flap attached to the visor to store and protect the eyeshield when the eyeshield is not in use. This invention also discloses removable and exchangeable eyeshields. Here, the eyeshield can be stored in a position parallel to the visor when not in use and flipped down to a position perpendicular to the visor when in use. Because the eyeshield is removable, this invention is also sensitive to the dictates of current fashion. However, because the eyeshield cannot be moved backwards and forwards in a direction parallel to the visor to adjust for those wearing eyeglasses and/or having different shaped facial contours, this invention once again does not solve all the problems listed above.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,102 to Solo discloses a visor and eyeshield combination having removable eyeshields and having eyeshields that can be flipped upward parallel to the visor for storage or flipped downward perpendicular to the visor for use. Once again, this invention does not solve all the problems listed above. As mentioned before, the removable eyeshield can be sensitive to the dictates of fashion. However, since the eyeshield can only be flipped up or down, it does not adequately accommodate those who wear eyeglasses, who have different facial contours, who wear different hat sizes, and/or who have different hat wearing habits.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,207 to Diaz discloses a visor and eyeshield combination in which the eyeshield is attached to an arm pivotally connected to the visor. By tracing the path of an arc of a circle, with the circle having the length of the arm as the radius, the arm can swing the eyeshield to a downward position perpendicular to the visor or swing the eyeshield to an upward position parallel to the visor. Therefore, moving the arm will simultaneously change the eyeshield's position both relative to the visor and relative to the distance from the wearer's face. Thus, this invention can accommodate people wearing eyeglasses, people having different facial contours, and people with different hat wearing habits. However, because the arm is rigid, it is possible that when the eyeshield is positioned in front of the wearer's eyes, the eyeshield is too far away from the wearer's face. Conversely, it is also possible that, when the eyeshield is positioned at a comfortable distance away from the wearer's face, it is no longer at eye level. Thus, the invention still does not solve all the problems associated with visor and eyeshield combinations.